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Danielle Kelly goes into 2023 as one of the top fighters to watch in ONE Championship.
Debuting in ONE last March, she competed twice, drawing once and winning her most recent outing. In both events, she impressed enough to earn a performance bonus.
The jiu jitsu fighter reflected on her year in an “end-of-year” Instagram post and gave a look into her perspective heading into 2023:
It was a landmark year for Kelly, who recapped 2022 with this to say:
“I’ve probably taught over 40-50 seminars this past year all over the US. I’ve also made my ONE debut on the biggest stage and ended it with wins and met so many great people. I’ve made adjustments, improving including myself, reconnected with people, learned a lot this year outside of jiu jitsu”.
Looking ahead, Danielle Kelly still feels the need to prove that she belongs at the top. She summed up her perspective for the new year with the following:
“I’m still figuring out as we all are, I’m looking forward to what 2023 will bring. Thank you to everyone that has been in my corner since day one. I’m looking to keep proving myself and why I deserve to be out there”.
Many have projected that a world title fight should include Danielle Kelly in 2023, which would be the perfect way to prove herself. The BJJ Black Belt has even expressed an interest in revisiting an old rivalry with Jessa Khan for the inaugural belt.
Danielle Kelly grateful for Mariia Molchanova match despite its length
Danielle Kelly most recently beat Russian sambo specialist Mariia Molchanova last November, but the bout didn’t last long enough for Kelly to show off many of her techniques.
She won with a rear naked choke within the first three minutes of their 10-minute bout, picking up her first win for ONE Championship. Despite its shortness, Kelly stated she was thankful for the opportunity in an interview with ONE Championship. She said:
“Yes, I think it lasted two minutes. But afterwards I said ‘thank you for taking this match.’ I believe I don’t know if I had like other girls lined up and she stepped out of her comfort zone to take this match, you know, a grappling match. So I respected her for that”.
While Molchanova is a newcomer to the promotion, Kelly’s next opponent will not be. She is set to fight Ayaka Miura on February.
All 4 of Miura’s MMA wins in ONE Championship have come via submission, and she is now ready to put her grappling skills to the test in a different rule-set. The Tribe Tokyo representative is a recent world title challenger, going twenty-five minutes with world champion Xiong Jingnan.
The fight will happen in roughly a month from now at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 10th, live on Amazon Prime Video.
